PCA Forums

system info:

shuttle ak31 v3.1
2 x 256mb crucial pc2100 ddr
t-bird 1.4 (not o/c'ed) ... temps at 39C (42C under load)
win2000 pro w/ all updates


i was surfing last night and win2000 gave me a BSOD with some "kernel_trap_blah_blah" error...no biggie....i was suprised it happened, but shut down and rebooted. i noticed while POST'ing that my reported memory was showing as 390-some MB instead of 512MB...so i shut down fully and let it sit to clear out the memory...rebooted...got the same result. i figured one of the crucial 256MB sticks fried...

i rebooted today and the proper 512MB registered...but i didn't trust it so i started to swap sticks and see if it was a bad stick or a bad memory slot. i could not get it to repeat reliably...regardless of what slots the RAM is in i sometimes get the bad amount showing up.

if a memory slot was bad it should be reproducable...but if the memory stick is failing it could be more erratic, right? or either could do this?

can anyone recommend a good memory test utility?


(btw: the system is on a UPS also...so i don't thing a power surge did it... )

My guess would be a bad stick of ram for the same reasons you gave. I have a little utility that you put on a floppy and boot from to test ram. You can run a single test or loop it for a real stress test. Don't know how great it is but it did help me find a stick that was failing on me one time. If you want it email me and I'll send it your way. Check my profile for my email addy

cool. ygm.

b-man didn't get your mail but emailed it to addy in your profile. Let me know if you don't get it for any reason

got it. thanks.

not sure why you didn't get my email...maybe it'll show up for xmas. hehe

i'll follow-up here with the results.